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Crusoe at Dinner
Justyne, Leitch, Macquoid, Morgan, Pasquier, & Thomas
Engravers: Butterworth and Heath
1863-64
Wood-engraving
21.6 cm high by 14 cm wide framed.
Cassell's Robinson Crusoe, page 97.
[Click on image to enlarge it and mouse over text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
In this government of my temper I remained near a year; and lived a very sedate, retired life, as you may well suppose; and my thoughts being very much composed as to my condition, and fully comforted in resigning myself to the dispositions of Providence, I thought I lived really very happily in all things except that of society. [Chapter X, "Tames Goats," p. 96]
After eleven years on the island, using his boat Crusoe has explored both sides, but he fears that a further voyage may result in his being swept away from the island by the current. His clothing having worn out, Crusoe finally wears the goat-skins readers expect. Listening to Poll's mindless prattling, a poor substitute for meaningful conversation (even at the pidgin English level at which Crusoe conversed with the Moorish slave Xury), he pats the dog, looks earnestly into his face, and eats another solitary meal. The illustrator thus emphasizes Crusoe's essential loneliness, even though he has all the necessities of life, which the full barley heads on either side make clear. Providence is about to give the long-suffering castaway a human companion.
Left: George Cruikshank's 1831 vignette of the protagonist in the midst of his belongings, enjoying Poll's company: Crusoe and Poll the Parrot in dialogue. Centre: A realisation of the interior of the hut, Robinson Crusoe reading the Bible (1818). Right: The Cassell's study of Crusoe's instructing Poll the Parrot, Crusoe teaching his Parrot to talk (1863-64). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Defoe, Daniel. The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe Of York, Mariner. As Related by himself. With upwards of One Hundred Illustrations. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1863-64.
Last modified 13 March 2018